Can we really cry about the heatwave?

 

There is no denying the heatwave in north India. There is however, also no denying that our abilities to cope with the weather, to adapt to existing weather conditions as a people is at an all time low. The temperatures after all are only 3-4 degrees higher than is usual, every year. But of course, as our bodies are adapted more and more often to ACs, the blast of heat we feel when we step out, the struggle that our bodies internal immunity, circulation, temperature adaptation has to do each time is also equally intense. Even sitting in ACs so many of us crib, that it is not cooling enough, even while our very ACs add further heat to the environment outside, where some poor souls are still carrying on with their work. We are not so much the victims of a heatwave, but rather of a vicious circle of our own making.

Also some basic art of how to be in hot weather is not followed by us. As humans are warm blooded, drinking cold water in the heat, will only make the body generate more heat to maintain balance. Instead, regular water, or at most water with a few sips of cold added for relief is what we ought to stick to. Having a cup or two of tea also helps, counter intuitively. Eat some grains as they steady the stomach, but eat light, not too greasy, don’t move rapidly between very cold and very hot spaces. These would ideally be some basics. Moving quickly from AC to non-AC situations, or drinking cold water on a hot day, is often the reason we end up with colds, headaches and stomach upsets.

A calm mind and slow, deliberate actions also helps – preventing our blood pressures from spiraling here and there. Steady walks in the evening, or even a swim is great, even if it is hot. An active body, is always better at maintaining homeostasis.

The vicious circle is worst because all the offices, malls, homes, cars that rely on ACs, only exacerbates the heat in the surrounding areas, where often less well-off people still have to work – bad weather or not.

Most of us know all this, but somehow, caught in the wave of what our peers say, and the media hype, we just do what everyone else does. Another strange thing is no one really talks of the heat in say Patna, or Churu and Jhunjhunu much, it’s always Delhi – but that’s media focus we suppose. Meanwhile, we are still cutting down trees for development projects – really, do we even have a right to be upset?